On the way to buy groceries this morning, I popped into the emergency room at Baypointe Hospital on the old Navy base. I told the doctor on duty I’d been dog bit, but the dog in question had allegedly been vaccinated. The doc said it doesn’t matter, I needed to be shot. For tetanus and rabies that is. Well, I had a tetanus booster last year after my encounter with barbed wire, so I just needed to take care of the potential for rabies.

It seems to me that back in the day a rabies treatment involved like 12 shots in the stomach. I nervously asked what regimen was in store for me? Well, the vaccine dose is predicated on weight and based on mine I need a series of five shots administered once every three days. Then I was asked if I had insurance, which made me a little nervous (I do, but I have to pay as I go and file a claim afterward). Turns out the total cost is $250 so I can deal with that.

Before they gave me the first shot a cute nurse came in and said she was going to test me for an allergic reaction. She scraped something on my arm which hurt more than I could let my male pride admit. After about twenty minutes she came back and had a look at the mosquito bite-like lump on my arm. Does it itch? Not anymore I told her. She had another nurse look, then fetched a doctor. And then another doctor. I guess they concluded that I was allergic so they wouldn’t use that medicine. I still got a shot of something though, and I’ll be back Friday for more.

Pretty exciting, huh? But wait, there’s more! How about some photos from yesterday’s Hash?

I’m not sure why, but I have the urge to lift my leg when I pee now. Just kidding. I hope.

I caught you knockin’
at my cellar door
I love you, baby,
can I have some more
Ooh, ooh, the damage done.

I hit the city and
I lost my band
I watched the needle
take another man
Gone, gone, the damage done.

I sing the song
because I love the man
I know that some
of you don’t understand
Milk-blood
to keep from running out.

I’ve seen the needle
and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie’s
like a settin’ sun.

Interesting morning here. Getting back into my regular routines which are all the more enjoyable after a brief hiatus for travel. The dogs seemed happy to have me back for our walk around the neighborhood, that’s for sure.

Afterward, I went to the new Divimart store and purchased 100 tins of sardines, 50 bags of noodles, and 20 kgs of rice. I found a local charity here that provides food baskets for the poor and that was my contribution. I also wired some money to a chat friend on Bohol to provide a Christmas meal for some school kids in her town. I have helped her out before and she sent pictures so I pretty much trust the money will be used as intended. Anyway, I’m all-in for three hundred bucks. That’s not exactly chump change, but it’s nice that a small donation can make a difference for those in need.

As I neared completion of my regular morning walk I passed by a house with a dog on a chain. I’ve gone this way many times and the dog always barks aggressively but his chain doesn’t reach my path. At least it didn’t until today. I hadn’t even really noticed him (had my headphones on) but as I was moving away he came at me from behind and bit me on the hand. It seems his chain had been tethered to a different post which brought me in range of those sharp teeth. Yep, he drew a fair amount of blood from my little finger.

This incident occurred not far from my neighborhood. So I cleaned the wound, applied disinfectant, and took my helper with me to talk to the dog’s owner. He wasn’t sympathetic, saying (to her in Tagalog) that I shouldn’t have been walking there. I had my helper ask if the dog had been inoculated for rabies and the translated response from her was “not this year”. Hmm. I think a dog normally just gets vaccinated once but I’m not sure. The dog’s owner also helpfully added that his dog has bitten many people and none of them contracted rabies.

So it looks like I’ll be going to the hospital tomorrow to get a rabies shot.

Here’s hoping I have better luck at the Hash today.

Feeling the effects of a passing typhoon here today, leaving me a lazy and rainy afternoon to abide. Tomorrow I will be changing my perspective with a four-day visit in La Union. Weather ought to be better by then, if not my attitude. Yeah, I’m in a foul mood. And no, I’m not ready to talk about it.

Here are some photos from yesterday’s Hash:

Anyway, from this point, the trail went back up again and it was already a little past 5:00 and it gets dark around 5:30. So I was done with the trail and hoofed it back to the on-home at Johan’s on Baloy Beach. I arrived in time to see this:

A couple of points of interest at the circle. We celebrated a birthday in the traditional Hash fashion:

The other event of interest was the naming of a Hasher who completed her fifth Hash. This process involves the unnamed being interviewed by the group and then potential names are suggested and voted on. The unnamed was Ilene, whom I mentioned before as a bit of a (one-way) crush. Anyway, Ilene professed to like horses and I knew she was into running. And she’s attractive. So, the name I came up with was “Hot to Trot” and in a close vote, she was duly named.

Met a virgin to the Hash named Chris (male) who is a military retiree who just recently moved to Barretto. He did a couple of tours of duty in Korea so we had that in common. He indicated he might be joining us in La Union. Welcome to the Hash!

And that’s it for now. Some bad stuff happened after the circle that I’m still processing. In the end, it will probably turn out for the best. For now, I think I need to go get drunk.

She’s been lookin’ like a queen in a sailor’s dream
And she don’t always say what she really means
Sometimes I think it’s a shame
When I get feelin’ better when I’m feelin’ no pain
Sometimes I think it’s a shame
When I get feelin’ better when I’m feelin’ no pain

I can picture every move that a man could make
Getting lost in her lovin’ is your first mistake
Sundown you better take care
If I find you been creepin’ ’round my back stairs
Sometimes I think it’s a sin
When I feel like I’m winnin’ when I’m losin’ again

Be it ever so humble and all that jazz, it’s good to be back and into the swing of my so-called life. I think being away for even a few days helps give you perspective. Sometimes I lament the meaninglessness of it all in an “is that all there is?” kind of way. But hey, I’m retired, I’ve made my contributions to society and I have the pension to prove it. For me now my job is to not lament what I’ve lost, not to regret what I don’t have, and to be satisfied with the life I’ve chosen in the here and now. Knowing I can always change my life should the need arise.

So for a retired guy, I guess you could say I do lead a pretty active lifestyle. I’m out walking every day of course. That’s a healthy thing to do and I occasionally even enjoy it. I’ve got a couple of Spotify music playlists I’ve created, Walk and Roll and Walkaholic, that helps pass the steps when I’m out and about. And of course, there’s the nightlife.

So yeah, I have my favorite hangouts. Some are for darts, like Alley Cats. Some feature my kind of music. And others are just good places to sit and chat with my fellow expats. I’ve mentioned before that Barretto often feels like a big retirement community. We are all kind of in it together and making the best we can of whatever remains of our time amongst the living. If that constitutes settling, then I’ll settle for that.

And it’s not all about bars and women.

This is the life I’ve chosen and I’m going to try and live it without regret.

Oh, Facebook reminded me this morning of another walking milestone in my “career”.

Today I participate in a social activity that involves both of my pastimes–walking and drinking. Yep, I’m talking about the Hash. And in other Hash news, this week I’ll be making a road trip to La Union (about 4 hours north of here) to participate in the Haggis Hash there. I’m not sure what all that involves, we’ll do a walk on Friday and a bar crawl that night. A walk on Saturday and then the “games”. No idea what that’s going to entail, but I reckon I’m going to find out.

So stay tuned and thanks for joining me for the ride of my life here at LTG.

And when I was twelve years old
My daddy took me to a circus
“The Greatest Show on Earth”
There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads
And as I sat there watching
I had the feeling that something was missing
I don’t know what
But when it was all over, I said to myself
“Is that all there is to a circus”

Is that all there is
Is that all there is
If that’s all there is, my friends
Then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is

Greetings from Zambales province on the lush, lovely, and large island of Luzon. Most days here are like every other day, not that that’s a bad thing. At least for me. While walking the dogs this morning I still noticed how beautiful the bay and mountains are, even though I been seeing the same view almost every day for 18 months now. I’m glad about that.

Last night found me playing darts at Alley Cats and at the end of the evening my partner and I had secured first place money. It was a particularly satisfying victory because it required beating Steve, the Englishman who doesn’t drink, twice. Neither of us had a particularly strong partner so it was almost as if we were playing mano a mano. Steve is probably the best overall dart player here in Barretto, and certainly the most consistent. He was throwing very well last night but somehow I managed to play up to his level. I was actually quite surprised by my performance, especially given that I just haven’t been throwing much of late.

I also had a pleasant 7K afternoon hike yesterday. I’m still finding excuses to stay out of the mountains. Some might call that laziness but I prefer thinking of it as prudence. There I said it. The recent break-in at the house made me realize that I’ve been pushing my luck. Getting lost or hurt or worse in the wilds all by my lonesome just doesn’t have much appeal. Maybe it’s just a phase and I’ll regain my confidence once the thatch grass has dissipated. We’ll see.

Speaking of walking, next week I’ll be walking in Korea. Just like I was two years ago. Thanks for reminding me, Facebook:

It’s gonna be a short five-day trip–three nights in Seoul and two in Pyeongtaek. Hopefully, I’ll handle the memories better this time.

My driver has been out of town, so I did my normal Tuesday grocery shopping on Sunday. And while there I saw something I’ve never seen before (and for an old fucker like me, that’s saying something), a church service being conducted inside the supermarket. A Catholic service from all appearances. It struck me as quite bizarre.

“Honey, I’m off to church now.”

“Okay dear. Grab some milk while you are there.”

Good luck with that. When I couldn’t find any fresh milk a clerk advised it was out of stock. Most Filipinos drink milk from cartons on unrefrigerated shelves. I still can’t get my mind around that.

And so it goes.

*For those who are too young to get the 1960s pop culture reference in the headline–Everything’s Archie is like saying everything’s cool. Maybe not peachy keeno, or even far out, and definitely not groovy, but still alright. Ya dig? Now you know.

According to this YouTube video, there are “14 reasons the Philippines is different from the rest of the world.” Well, 15 if you count the fact that this is the only country in the world where I currently reside. Anyway, some of them I didn’t know, some are interesting, and some seem more like hyperbole than facts. If you’ve got eight minutes or so to kill, give it a watch.

Well, ’tis the season after all. Burning season I mean.

What are they burning? Sometimes trash, sometimes brush and the like. Now, having experienced the crazy growth of that tall and irritating thatch grass I can perhaps dispense with some tolerance for the need to burn that shit up. Still, it does nothing for the air quality around here, that’s for sure.

Speaking of smoke, President Duterte has decreed that henceforth vaping will be banned in the Philippines. That really sucks for me, because I’m a prolific vaper. And folks, vape clouds are not smoke, any more than fog is smoke. Anyway, the practical impact on me is as yet to be determined. I’ve been allowed to vape in most bars since it was previously not included in the smoking ban statutes. I expect that I will soon be denied that privilege. Alas, it seems escaping the nanny state syndrome is becoming more and more difficult. I’m a guest in this country, so I reckon I’ll just have to shut up and suck it up. I guess if bad things come in threes (burglary, detention) this vape ban completes the trifecta.

Oh, that reminds me. I experienced a second home invasion yesterday.

The holiday season is in full swing here. Of course, that’s old news. In the Philippines, Christmas season begins with the first of the “ber” months (SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, and DecemBER). It was disconcerting to hear holiday music blaring in the malls in the year’s ninth month, but what are you gonna do? Back when I was living in America, I made it a point to never decorate until AFTER Thanksgiving. But now I just go with the flow.

I confess part of my motivation was to shame would-be burglars. Or does it look more like an invitation? Oh well, it’s purdy.

When you are retired like I am, “hump” day pretty much loses all meaning and significance. Although as a member of the Wednesday walking group I do often spend some time and effort humping it up a mountain.

We did the big one yesterday but to his credit, our fearless leader Gunter didn’t make us climb the trail even he calls “Motherfucker”. The path we did take was plenty tough though. I hereby proclaim it will henceforth be known as “Nasty Bastard”.

Yeah, I was muttering to myself all the way up, but really the main reason I do the group hike is to see new places I wouldn’t explore alone and to push myself a bit harder than I do on my daily walks. Overcoming my inherent laziness and excuse-making is a good thing, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

I’ve got some photos from the 8K hike to share, but first I want to post this one:

I was also astounded at just how fat I look in that picture. I mean, I’m still carrying around a beer belly, but all these miles I’ve walked since that day have taken their toll. And the photo also reminds me that I’ve lost so much more than weight. Friends like Gunny, James Stoy, and Bridget Werner are gone now. The wedding band on my finger represents the broken promises from the woman I expected to spend the rest of my life with. I guess in a perverted kind of way I did. That man I was back then, fat and happy, the dreams and hopes for the future, the house and everything in it, all gone forever. All that’s left is a dead man walking.

As is our custom, most of the group popped into Cheap Charlies after the hike for rehydration purposes. There was some kind of party going on and the group had quite a spread, including Lechon (roasted pig).

Over the hump and back again. Carry on!

One morning I woke up and I knew you were really gone
A new day, a new way, and new eyes to see the dawn
Go your way, I’ll go mine and carry on

The sky is clearing and the night has cried enough
The sun, he comes, the world to soften up
Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice but to carry on

The fortunes of fables are able to sing the song
Now witness the quickness with which we get along
To sing the blues you’ve got to live the dues and carry on

Carry on, love is coming, love is coming to us all